Kansas State vs. Villanova: How to watch, TV channel, tipoff time, game odds

Kansas State (6-2) wraps up its four-game homestand Tuesday night, as the Wildcats play host to three-time NCAA champion Villanova (6-3) in the fourth annual Big 12/BIG EAST Battle at Bramlage Coliseum at 6 p.m. CT. The Wildcats are winless in their three previous matchups in the Big 12/BIG EAST Battle, losing at home to Marquette in 2019 and 2021 and at Butler in 2022.

K-State’s 14-game home non-conference winning streak will be put to the ultimate test against Villanova, which recently won the Battle 4 Atlantis Tournament. The streak dates to the Wildcats’ 64-63 loss to Marquette in the last home Big 12/BIG EAST Battle game on Dec. 8, 2021. K-State is 5-0 at home after Saturday’s 75-74 overtime win over North Alabama and has posted a 124-12 non-conference record at Bramlage Coliseum since 2006-07.

GAME 9

KANSAS STATE (6-2) vs. VILLANOVA (6-3)

TELEVISION

ESPN2 / WatchESPN (link here)

Rich Hollenberg (play-by-play)

King McClure (analyst)

Thomas Morrissey (producer)

RADIO

K-State Sports Network

Flagships: // KMAN 1350 & WIBW 580

Satellite Radio: Ch. 385

Online: Varsity Network [free] / www.kstatesports.com/watch [free]

Wyatt Thompson (play-by-play)

Stan Weber (analyst)

ODDS

Villanova -2.5 | O/U 141.5

TICKETS

(800) 221.CATS [2287]

SOLD OUT

COACHES

K-State: Jerome Tang [Charter Oak State College ‘07]

Record at K-State: 32-12/Second Year

Career Record: 34-12/Second Year+

Villanova: 0-0 [0-0 at home]

Villanova: Kyle Neptune [Lehigh ‘07]

Record at Villanova: 23-20/2nd Year

Career Record: 39-36/3rd Year

K-State: 0-0 [0-0 on the road]

PROBABLE STARTERS

K-State (6-2)

G: #2 Tylor Perry

G: #4 Dai Dai Ames

G: #5 Cam Carter

W: #24 Arthur Kaluma

W: #1 David N’Guessan

Villanova (6-3)

G: #0 T.J. Bamba

G: #2 Mark Armstrong

G: #5 Justin Moore

F: #23 Tyler Burton

F: #43 Eric Dixon

SERIES HISTORY

Overall: First meeting

Overall: Villanova leads 1-0

At Home: First meeting

At Bramlage Coliseum: First meeting

Active Streak: Villanova, 1

First Meeting: L, 34-51 [12/27/1940 in Philadelphia]

Last Meeting: L, 34-51 [12/27/1940 in Philadelphia]

Jerome Tang vs. Kyle Neptune: First meeting

KEY STORYLINES

• K-State continued its success in overtime games under head coach Jerome Tang, as the Wildcats scored 13 straight points, including the last five in regulation, to force overtime, to grab the momentum and overtake a determined UNA squad, 75-74. The Wildcats are now 8-0 under Tang in overtime games, including 3-0 this season. The back-to-back overtime wins are the first since doing it in three consecutive games vs. Nebraska, Colorado and Missouri during Feb. 3-15, 1964.
• Five Wildcats scored in double figures for the second consecutive game led by senior Tylor Perry, who had a hand in 11 of the team’s 13 consecutive points in regulation and overtime, including the game-tying 3-pointer with 8 seconds left. It marked the sixth time in his Division I career that Perry has made a shot to either win a game or send the game into overtime.
• Perry ranks in the Big 12’s top-10 in six categories, including tops in minutes (36.0), second in 3-point field goals (3.0) and free throw percentage (92.0), fourth in assist/turnover ratio (3.1), fifth in scoring (17.3 ppg.) and sixth in assists (5.4 apg.).
• Despite an off-night game against UNA, the K-State offense has still been potent through the first eight games, as the Wildcats are averaging 82.8 points per game on 43.9 percent shooting from the field, including 8.5 3-pointers per game and 36.5 points in the paint, and 73.6 percent shooting from line. The scoring average is the best through the first 8 games since the 1997-98 team averaged 84.5 points per game. At least four players have scored in double figures in seven games, while three (Tylor Perry, Cam Carter, Arthur Kaluma) are averaging double digits.
• K-State ranks among the best rebounding teams in the nation, as the Wildcats place in the top-25 in two categories, including fourth in offensive rebounds (16.0) and 24th in rebounds. (42.0). The team has outrebounded six of its eight opponents, holding a +7.5 rebounding margin.
• They have corralled at least 35 rebounds in every game this season with a season-best 63 vs. Central Arkansas, which was the most since they had 64 vs. Kansas City on Dec. 3, 1997.
• The Wildcats took advantage of their opportunities at the line vs. UNA, as their 34 makes were the most since 2015 (36 vs. South Dakota) and 48 attempts were the most since 2014.

NOTES ON VILLANOVA

• Under second-year head coach Kyle Neptune, Villanova is off to a fast start, winning six of its first nine games, including victories over Texas Tech, North Carolina and Memphis to win the Battle 4 Atlantic Tournament. The Wildcats have dropped consecutive games to Big Five rivals Saint Joseph’s and Drexel.
• Villanova is averaging 74.3 points per game on 41.8 percent shooting, including 31.8 percent from 3-point range, while allowing 64.9 points on 40.7 percent shooting, including 38.2 percent from long range. The Wildcats are among the best free throw shooting teams in the country, ranking second nationally at 82.4 percent from the line.
• Two players are averaging in double figures led by senior Eric Dixon, who is averaging 14.8 points on 48.4 percent shooting, including 37.9 percent from 3-point range. Graduate Justin Moore is averaging 14.4 points on 39.8 percent shooting, including a team-best 17 3-pointers. In all, five players are averaging better than 8 points per game. Graduate Tyler Burton is averaging a team-best 7.0 rebounds, while Dixon is averaging 6.6 per game.
• Villanova was picked fourth in the preseason BIG EAST poll after the Wildcats returned nine lettermen, including two starters, from a team that posted a 17-17 record and earned a bid to the NIT in 2022-23. The Wildcats also added a number of high-profile transfers in T.J. Bamba (Washington State), Hakim Hart (Maryland), Lance Ware (Kentucky) and Burton (Richmond).
• A longtime assistant to Jay Wright at Villanova from 2013-21, Neptune returned as head coach in 2022 after a one-year stint at Fordham. He is 39-36 in his career, including 23-20 at Villanova. He is just the sixth head coach at Villanova since 1936.